Indexing mechanism



July 23, 1935. R. J. BEAVERS 2,008,848

INDEXING MECHANISM Filed Jan. 11,, 1954 ATTORNEY Patented July 23, 1935 UNETED STATES ATENT OFFICE 2,008,848 a INDEXING- ISM Roy J. Beavers, Brookfield, 111., assignor to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New York,

N. Y., a corpcrationof New'York Application January 11, l934, Serial No. 706,200

7 Claims. (Cl. 179-90) This invention relates to indexing mechanisms and more particularly to a number indexing mechanism for use in a telephone subscribers set of the automatic type. I

An object of the invention is to provideasim ple and efiicient mechanism for transmittinginformation. a I

In accordance with one embodiment; the invention contemplates the provision of an auto matic telephone subscribers set having a number plate on the face thereof with the numbers arranged in a horizontal row and letters arranged in vertical rows above the numbers and having a manually operable lever movable horizontally to select a number or letter and movable vertically to operate a pulsing wheeito-caus the transmission of impulses representing the let-' ters and the numbers selected for calling an other subscriber.

The invention will be more fully understood from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein 7 Fig. 1- is a front elevational' view of an automatic telephonesubscribe1"s set of the type illustrative of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational View of the structureshown in Fig. 1, parts being broken away to disclose the internal operating mechanism,

and

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3--3 of Fig. 1 in the direction of the arrows.

Referring now to the drawing whereinflike reference numerals indicate the 'same part throughout the several views, the a paratus comprises a base I to which is secured a main housing 2 supporting at its upper end a cradle 3 adapted to-receive a subscribers hand set (not shown). Secured to the front face of the housing 2' is a number plate 4 having printed thereon the digits 1 to- 9 and zero in a horizontal row and having arranged in vertical rows above the digits 2 to 9 and zero those letters of the alphabet necessary to call exchanges." Arranged directly beneaththe numbers 1 to 9 and zeroare a plurality of slots 5 formed in a plate 6 which in turn is formed as a part of the-main housing 2. The slots 5 are of a depth corresponding to.

the value of the number withwhich they are associated, for example, theslot lis'theshor-test and the slots 2, 3-, 4", 5', etc. are" of increasing length. the slot associated with zero being the longest.

Secured to the underside of the upper surface of the main housing 2 is a vertically extending and three arms 3!, 32 and 33.

plate Hi having brackets H and I2 and !3 formed on the bottom edge thereof for supporting various parts of the mechanism. The bracket l3 has cooperating therewith a bracket M which is positioned in vertical alignment with and di- 5 rectly above the bracket l3. A pairof adjustable pivot pins l5 and It are positioned in the brackets l3 and I4 and pivotally support a rotatable pivot support H. The rotatable pivot support I? has a lever is pivoted thereto at I 9. 10 I The lever it'extends through a horizontalslot 28 in the housing and may be moved horizontally to select the numbers listed on the'number' plate 4, and upon selection of a number may be moved vertically into the slot 5 associated with the 1 5 number selected. Adjacent its right end (Fig. 2 the lever l8 rests upon a horizontally disposed 1T'shaped lever 2| which is pivoted for vertical movement in the bracket ll and which carries at its left end (Fig. 2;) a gear segment 22. Coopcrating with the gearsegments 22' is a gear' 23 rotatably mounted in the bracket l2 and fixed to apulsing drum 24;

The pulsing drum 24 has eleven radially e x tending cams formed thereon, ten of which'are 25, adapted to operate a spring pressed lever 25 and theeleventh one of which serves as a stop for the lever25 when the device is in normalposition. A spring motor of the usual type for driving the pulsing .drum in a clockwise direction and a governor for controlling the speed of rotation of the puls'ingdrum when it is driven by the spring motor are provided, but have not been shown since they would complicate the drawing and since they are well known parts of calling mechanisms now in use.

Secured to thevertically extending plate 10 is a bracket 42 between which and the plate H] a pivot pin dd-is mounted for pivota-lly supporting the lever 25 which comprises a hollow shaft 39 The arm 3| has secured thereto a coil spring 34 which normally tends to hold the lever 25 ina predetermined position. The arm 32 carries a roller 35 of insulating material for moving a contact spring 36 out of engagement with a second contact spring 31. to break an electrical circuit (not shown) extending from the contact springs to. a, central' oflice telephone. exchange. The arm 33 has a portion 38 which engages the radially extending projections on the pulsing drum 24-. 3 It; is believed that a better understanding; of the invention will be had from the following brief description of the operation thereof in calling a number. Let it be assumed that it is desired to call telephone number Lawndale 5124. The first three letters of the exchange to be called must be transmitted first to select the exchange, and then the digits of the number assigned to the subscriber to be called must be transmitted to select the line of the subscriber called. As is well known in telephone practice the numerical system is used in the selection of exchanges as well as the numbers in the exchange and various groups of letters are associated with the digits of the numerical system. As shown on the number plate 4 the letters A, B and C are associated with the number 2, the letters D, E and F with the digit 3, etc.

The letter L is associated with the digit 5 and therefore the lever l8, after the hand set has been removed from the cradle 3, is moved horizontally to position under the letters J, K, L and digit 5 and then moved downwardly into the slot 5 associated with the digit 5. The movement of the right end (Fig. 2) of the lever l8 downwardly will cause the operating bar 2| to be moved about its pivot in a clockwise direction, thereby to cause the segmental gear 22, through the gear 23 to drive the pulsing wheel 24 in a counterclockwise direction through substantially one half revolution. The pulsing wheel 24 in moving in a counterclockwise direction will cause the lever 25 to rock between its normal position and a position in a clockwise direction therefrom, each time one of the radially extending projections on the pulsing wheel engages the portion 38 of arm 33, whereby the contacts 36 and 31 are not affected during this counterclockwise rotation of the wheel 24. As soon as the right end of the lever I8 (Fig. 2) is moved upwardly the spring motor (not shown) will drive the pulsing wheel 24 in a clockwise direction, and the lever 25 will be rocked to a position in a counterclockwise direction from normal five times due to the engagement thereby of the radially extending projections on the pulsing wheel which have previously rocked the lever 25 in a clockwise direction. In rotating the lever 25 about its pivot 42 in a counterclockwise direction the roller 35 will be caused to engage the contact spring 36 five times, thereby to break the circuit between the contact springs 36 and 31 five times to cause the transmission of the number 5 to the telephone exchange due to the emission of five impulses. The operation of the pulsing wheel 24 will cause the transmission of the number 5 by breaking the contact between contact springs 36 and 31, while the lever I8 is being shifted horizontally to select the next letter of the exchange to be called and as soon as the first letter has been transmitted the lever I 8, which in the meantime has been shifted to a position in alignment with the letters A, B, C and the digit 2 may be depressed to similarly cause the transmission of the digit 2 to the exchange. In a similar manner the letter W and the digits 5124 may be transmitted in the exchange by the manipulation of the lever l8.

If desired when the lever I8 has been depressed it can be allowed to rest on the right hand end of operating bar 2| and be carried up thereby during the impulsing period. It will then be shifted to the next position as previously described.

It is to be understood that the applicant does not desire to be limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, for obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

What is claimed is:

1. A number indexing mechanism comprising a pulsing wheel, and means for operating the pulsing wheel including a lever movable horizontally to select a number and movable vertically to actuate the pulsing wheel in accordance With the number selected.

2. An indexing mechanism including a pulsing wheel, and means for rotating the pulsing wheel through different distances comprising an operating bar for operating the pulsing wheel, and a lever movable in one plane to select the accurate distance through which the operating bar is to be moved and movable in another plane for actuating the operating bar through the selected distance.

3. An indexing mechanism including a lever movable in one plane to select a number for registration and movable in another plane to cause the registration of the selected number, a pivoted operating bar actuated by said lever through arcuate distances in accordancewith the number selected, a pair of contact springs, and a pulsing wheel for causing said springs to be separated a number of times dependent upon the arcuate distance through which the pivoted operating bar is moved.

4. A mechanism for operating a pulsing wheel comprising an operating bar, a gear fixed to the pulsing wheel, a gear segment meshing with said gear and formed on the end of said operating bar, and means for actuating said operating bar comprising a lever movable in one plane to select the number of pulses to be sent and movable in another plane to effect the sending of said pulses.

5. In a telephone calling mechanism, pulsing mechanism selectively operable for transmitting a plurality of pulses corresponding to selected numbers, means for actuating said pulsing mechanism comprising an operating bar movable through various distances corresponding to the numbers selected, and a lever movable in one plane to select a number and movable in another plane to operate said operating bar to move it a distance corresponding to the value of the number selected.

6. In a number indexing mechanism, a pulsing wheel, a lever for operating said wheel, and a member having a plurality of slots of different depths for receiving said lever.

7. In a calling mechanism for automatic telephone subscribers sets, contact making means, a pulsing wheel for operating the contact making means, a gear fixed to said pulsing Wheel, an operating bar having a gear segment at one end thereof and an arcuately shaped cam surface on the other end thereof, a housing having a horizontally disposed slot and a plurality of vertically disposed slots therein, said vertically disposed slots terminating in said horizontally disposed slot and being of a length corresponding to the value of various digits, a lever pivoted in said housing to move horizontally in said horizontally disposed slot and to move vertically in said vertically disposed slots to operate the operating bar various distances depending on the vertical slot into which the lever is moved.

ROY J. BEAVERS. 

